Saturday, February 07, 2015

Symposium: Towards Zero Poaching in Asia concludes in Nepal

A symposium, Towards Zero Poaching in Asia concluded in Kathmandu, Nepal on 6th February 2015.

This five-day anti-poaching symposium started on 2 February 2015, was hosted by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation of Nepal.
It was co-hosted by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Global Tiger Forum (GTF), National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)
This event had brought together global anti-poaching experts and delegates from countries like Bangaladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
In this event, experts shared best anti-poaching practices, tools and technologies with the aim of launching a coordinated Asia-wide push to stop poaching.
Among the Tiger Range Countries that participated in this Zero Poaching in Asia symposium, Nepal is the only country to achieve zero poaching.

Nepal had celebrated two zero poaching years i.e. in 2011 and 2014.
In both years no single critically endangered rhino was killed and for past three years not a single tiger was killed.
Nepal was able to achieve remarkable success in wildlife conservation mainly due to its three C policies, commitment, collaboration and coordination of conservation efforts undertaken by local communities and the security forces.

Nepal’s wildlife

Nepal, which shares the Terai Arc landscape with India, has rich bio-diversity and rare flora and fauna. It is home to endangered animals like tigers, rhinos, elephants and gangetic dolphins.
It has 10 national parks, three wildlife reserves and six conservation areas that cover more than 13,000 square miles in total. As per the previous animal census there are 534 endangered rhinos and 198 tigers in Nepal.
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) is Nepal’s nodal agency to monitor its rich biodiversity.